Rumours swirled that he had died on Wednesday after a Right-wing former minister, Christine Boutin, tweeted that he had passed away.

The family denied the claim and asked the media to respect their privacy.

Mr Chirac's son-in-law Frederick Salat-Baroux later announced that Mrs Chirac had been hospitalised to "relax and recuperate".

Former French President Jacques ChiracCredit:
REUTERS

"Bernadette Chirac, deeply affected by the death of her eldest daughter Laurence (a long-term anorexia sufferer who died in April) and exhausted for the past few days following her husband's lung infection, has been hospitalised in Pitié-Salpêtrière," he told AFP news agency.

Ms Boutin was widely criticised for the false report.

She said in defending her tweet that she had "information that seemed to come from a reliable source. It's information that I believe the French are awaiting ... you can see the buzz around this story," she said.